Using a large sample of executives in S&P1500 firms over 1996-2010, we document significant salary and total compensation gaps between female and male executives and explore two possible explanations for the gaps. We find support for greater female risk aversion as one contributing factor....

Despite claims that CEO compensation contracts are increasingly complex, little is known about the extent to which they are, what drives that complexity, and its implications. We develop a new measure of compensation contract complexity and find that complexity relates to factors capturing firm...